La Jolla 9/17

[Whizz Bang]

Originally Posted by dsafety

By that time I had been on the water for over seven hours. I had not planned to be out that long. I had not eaten breakfast and did not pack a lunch. All I had with me was some water and a couple of beers. I was thrashed. I started whining about wanting to head in but Josh and Eric, (La Jolla's newest fishing guide), who had joined our little band, shamed me into staying. Good thing.

Bob

LMAO.... I would make my clients as angry and unsatisfied as Josh's are happy....with their bent rods, big fish, and smiles....damn.


Awesome story. Well written...the appropriate touch of humor....nice fish pic....really well done, and excellent use of paragraphs/


It was great to meet you the other day. Im really glad you stuck it out. The opportunity to fish with "The Man With The White Face", should not be taken lightly. I tell everyone of his clients I meet (and I meet alot of them) that I am incredibly jealous....and I am. If I had the money I would hire that guy like once a week. I have a notebook full of questions for him that I refuse to ask him until I am a paying customer out of a misguided sense of decorum. After you left I pilfered a couple more baits from Josh and couldnt help but ask a couple of rather harmless questions that slipped out before discretion got the better part of me, however, I still logged a zero. This is OK by me, watching you and Chris land your fish was awesome...made my day.

In my opinion there are two ways to SUCCESSFULLY fish LJ.....
1.Time on Water.
Guys talk alot about putting in time on the water and paying their dues. This is often referenced by guys who fish LJ once a month..maybe. Putting in your dues is fishing LJ 2-3 times a week(more if you are single or dont have children). The mandate for this strategy is a willingness to learn, adapt, and change things up. Fish may not be hitting what they were last week. Fish may not be where they were last week, they have fins. Yesterday's golden sabiki may not catch more than lizard fish today. You probably WILL have to paddle your ass off. If you commit to this strategy, the learning curve will be steep, the rewards, though often meager, will feel immense when they do come, and with time they will most certainly come. This is the path I have chosen, and Josh rarely misses a chance to give me sh!t over the blood, sweat, and tears I have shed on that beautiful stretch of water. Of course, there is another way...another path to glory. It's path does not meander. Its hardship is minimal. The payout, often awe inspiring.

2. Hire Josh. You, Bob, chose wisely.


Congratulations on an awesome fish. He looks delicious.

Eric

[bigbarrels]

congrats on the YT and I hope your sunburned legs recover quickly.....Josh is the man!! All my gear changed after talking with him this past winter and he has given me same great insight on how to fish La Jolla....now if I could just catch some fish Congrats again!!!!

[undrH2Ohntr]

Congrat's on a beautiful fish.

[Tandem Assassin]

I had the privledge of fishing with the man with the white face recently and saw a lot of this.

[dos ballenas]

Originally Posted by Whizz Bang

LMAO.... I would make my clients as angry and unsatisfied as Josh's are happy....with their bent rods, big fish, and smiles....damn.


Awesome story. Well written...the appropriate touch of humor....nice fish pic....really well done, and excellent use of paragraphs/


It was great to meet you the other day. Im really glad you stuck it out. The opportunity to fish with "The Man With The White Face", should not be taken lightly. I tell everyone of his clients I meet (and I meet alot of them) that I am incredibly jealous....and I am. If I had the money I would hire that guy like once a week. I have a notebook full of questions for him that I refuse to ask him until I am a paying customer out of a misguided sense of decorum. After you left I pilfered a couple more baits from Josh and couldnt help but ask a couple of rather harmless questions that slipped out before discretion got the better part of me, however, I still logged a zero. This is OK by me, watching you and Chris land your fish was awesome...made my day.

In my opinion their are two ways to SUCCESSFULLY fish LJ.....
1.Time on Water.
Guys talk alot about putting in time on the water and paying their dues. This is often referenced by guys who fish LJ once a month..maybe. Putting in your dues is fishing LJ 2-3 times a week(more if you are single or dont have children). The mandate for this strategy is a willingness to learn, adapt, and change things up. Fish may not be hitting what they were last week. Fish may not be where they were last week, they have fins. Yesterday's golden sabiki may not catch more than lizard fish today. You probably WILL have to paddle your ass off. If you commit to this strategy, the learning curve will be steep, the rewards, though often meager, will feel immense when they do come, and with time they will most certainly come. This is the path I have chosen, and Josh rarely misses a chance to give me sh!t over the blood, sweat, and tears I have shed on that beautiful stretch of water. Of course, there is another way...another path to glory. It's path does not meander. Its hardship is minimal. The payout, often awe inspiring.

2. Hire Josh. You, Bob, chose wisely.


Congratulations on an awesome fish. He looks delicious.

Eric

So you can either

1) Earn your fish


or

2) pay someone for your a fish?

sounds like a lot of people are taking the easy way out these days... congrats none the less.

Landing that fish was all you I'm sure, which is a great feat in itself! Good job on that!

Now go get one on your own!

[dsafety]

Originally Posted by dos ballenas

So you can either

1) Earn your fish


or

2) pay someone for your a fish?

sounds like a lot of people are taking the easy way out these days... congrats none the less.

Landing that fish was all you I'm sure, which is a great feat in itself! Good job on that!

Now go get one on your own!

I'm not sure what you are getting at with the above comment. If your point is that those who hire a guide to help learn how to be more successful are somehow less worthy than those who learn on their own, I have to disagree.

There are many ways to become educated. Some are free, others are quite costly, (20k a year for my son's college tuition is one educational expense that comes to mind). Many of us have taken lessons from a golf or tennis pro. This is no different.

You are right about one thing, however. Now that I have been given the lesson, I need to take what I have learned and apply this knowledge on my own. The mid-term exam will be held somewhere off LJ next week. I will let you know how I do on the test.

Bob

[Tandem Assassin]

Originally Posted by dos ballenas

So you can either

1) Earn your fish


or

2) pay someone for your a fish?

sounds like a lot of people are taking the easy way out these days... congrats none the less.

Landing that fish was all you I'm sure, which is a great feat in itself! Good job on that!

Now go get one on your own!

Going out with Josh is no different then going out on a overnight trip or multiday trip - both show you new knots, line selection, different hooks, bait selection, and new areas to target fish.

I have fished LJ for the last 5 years and have caught many throphy's. This year I decided see what the "Gun For Hire" was all about and was not disappointed. In fact, I feel guilty for all the information I have received and how little out of pocket it cost compared to a overnight trip. Not to mention - Josh is one of the hardest working individuals I have ever met. On my first outing we launched at 5:00 am and did not hit the beach until 7:00 pm (only because I wanted to come in).

Josh doesn't hook and hand - he educates and takes you out to the grounds where you apply your new found knowledge. The last two fish I caught while fishing with Josh - we were 1/4 mile away from one another and he had nothing to do with baiting, fighting, or gaffing my throphy. No one is happier then Josh when you do it own your own. Isn't that what teaching is all about?

"Give a man a fish, feed him for the day, Teach a man to fish and feed him for life"

[Whizz Bang]

Bob/Yani/Tandem,

Im not sure DB was insulting you guys, I think DB just misunderstood my post and took it as something it wasnt. To be clear. I am jealous of all of Josh's clients and tell them as much when I meet them. You are paying for more than a guide or a shot at a fish, you are paying to tap into an incredible knowledge base and the ability to do so undoubtedly shortens a rather steep learning curve.

Anyone who puts in the time at LJ , guided or unguided, have earned their fish. They, most likely, have earned fish that they never even had the chance to bring to color. But that is the very nature of this passion we all share. You can do everything right, and they may still not bite.

Eric/WS Ride/Skinny Wallet

[1Flatfish]

Way to go Bob. You HAVE put in your time out there. Running into Josh was your good fortune, but you still earned that fish! In my opinion, time on water is good, but not everyone has time for that time! I can't fish weekdays because of my job any many weekends are booked too. So some of us turn to professionals for help. Something I'm NOT ashamed of in the least. Josh helps people for a cost, but the price is well worth it, and Josh is underpaid! He helped me get my trophy and he can help you too.

Or, you can put time in on the water. How much is your time worth?

Wayne

[Dan]

Those are cute fish.

Thanks for taking them out to "the spot".